A Meeting of Strangers
by thelinksthatconnectus
Summary: Ella meets a girl deep in the woods.


Ella could not tell which moved faster, the horse or her beating heart. It slammed against her chest, harder and faster than it had in ages, a steady thumping that echoed throughout her entire body.

The forest moved by her in a blur of greens and browns, the colors shifting the further that the sun set. When she had first set out, back when her tears had still been wet against her face, the sun had been high in the sky. Now? Now it looked as if it too wanted to hide, sinking away from sight.

Her horse steadily slowed, its whinnying and wheezing growing more constant. Each step further seemed bumpier than the next, and beneath her fingers hung a bony frame grasping for air.

Her mother had told her to always be kind.

Her horse stopped with a slight jerk, but relaxed once Ella got off. Leaning her hand up, she rubbed at its grey muzzle. Instinctively, her hand reached in her pocket for an apple that was not there.

Ella sighed. She knew it was silly to berate herself for not bringing anything, yet she could not help but wish that she had grabbed food of some sort and a few coins.

Or just food, she thought as her eyes wondered the forest. The trees had grown denser and closer together, their branches going so high that Ella was sure if she climbed one she could touch a cloud. The wood on most of the trees was more grey than brown, and the trees' roots were thick and deep, looking almost as if the earth clang to them rather than vice versa.

Ella bit her lip. She had not meant to come this far, to... To wherever this was.

The sight was the same in front of her as in the back, all tall trees for endless miles. Above her, birds cried. Shadows thickened, bits of orange sunlight, at least whatever was left of it, barely breaking through. The world of night seemed ready to appear at any moment and was simply biding its last bit of time.

A chill ran up Ella's back. The moon had yet to appear, but the night's chill had not bothered to wait.

She supposed she could turn back, but she doubted that would do much good for her. While her father had been a man of the world, going anywhere and everywhere, her world had been the manor and her town. The world was certainly not a straight line, but one of twisting curves, ones that she had followed earlier without a second thought.

Her stepmother and stepsisters may have been gone, but that did nothing to lighten the ache in Ella's chest.

The fatigue and hunger from her impulsive journey finally caught up with her and her horse. One hand went further against the horse's side, solid and dependable unlike the shaking ground below her, and another to her head. Her stomach growled as loud as any wild beast.

Her horse whinnied.

"I know," Ella replied, voice low. A chill ran up her spine and her teeth chattered; the spring warmth from earlier had vanished, almost as if it had never been there at all. "Let's just get a bit further and then we can stop and rest."

She doubted there was much up ahead. She had been traveling all day and, save for a fields, all she had seen was more forest. Nothing but trees, reaching out into forever.

Have courage, Ella reminded herself. She straightened her back and pulled her cloak up around her tighter.

Though she had no food, she at least was away from her stepmother and stepsisters. At least there was a positive in all of this. Knowing her stepfamily, they might not even know that she was gone.

Or, if they needed something done for them, then they surely had. But would it really hurt them to do something for themselves for once?

Ella and her horse moved at what seemed like a snail's pace. Her feet ached, the ground seeming to grow harder and harder the more steps that she took on it. Beneath her feet, twigs cracked.

There's no turning back now, Ella reminded herself. Nowhere to go but to move forward.

Surprisingly, her chest lightened, if only for a moment. She was never going to see her stepfamily again. After everything that had happened to her because of them, and in Ella's house no less... Oh, at least her mother had never lived to see such things.

Ella sighed. They could have the house. The house and everything in it, from the books that she read thousands of time to the hidden mouse holes only she knew of (ones that not even Lucifer could find), had belonged to her parents once. But that was long ago. Even their presence seemed to have faded, vanishing from the objects that they had once held so dear.

There was nothing left for Ella there, not any longer.

Ella picked up her pace with what little energy she had left. If she could just find a clearing...

"Hello!"

Ella froze, she and her horse stilling.

"Hello!" The voice called again, louder than before.

"Hello?" Ella called back.

The voice had come out of nowhere, seeming to travel on the wind.

Ahead of her, in the dim light, a figure raced forward waving a hand. Ella continued forward once more, her eyes squinted and hand kept on her horse.

Eventually, Ella drew close enough to see who the other figure was, a girl who looked to be near her age. She had wind swept blonde hair and bright eyes, her cheeks red from running.

"Hello!" the girl called again. "Do you need help?"

Ella looked down. "I..."

"Not many people come to these woods," the girl said, her words quick.

"I," Ella picked up again. "I have been on a rather long journey."

"You must have," the other girl replied. She held a pale hand out. "Though I must wonder what kind of journey would bring you here. The only people around here are me and my aunties." The girl smiled. "I'm Aurora."

Though her dress, worn and dirty from her long journey, hardly looked fitting on a girl such as her, she curtsied anyway. She may have still looked like a servant, but Ella would never again act like one. "My name is Ella."

"What a pretty name." The girl held her arm out. "Would you like to rest at my aunties' house? I am sure that they would not mind a guest."

Ella paused for a moment. The girl in front of her, though dressed in plain clothes and carrying a small basket of what looked to be herbs and flowers, had a grace to her. Beautiful was not even enough of an adjective to describe her.

Have courage, Ella reminded herself.

"It would truly mean so much to me." Ella replied.

Aurora giggled. "Oh, it will be nothing. My aunties won't mind at all."

Have courage, Cinderella repeated.

Yet for once she would be the one receiving kindness. Reaching out, she took the other girl's warm hand and clutched it tightly.


End file.
